Gervonta Davis vacates WBA junior lightweight title!
In a big move, the now former WBA super world junior lightweight champion Gervonta Davis has vacated his title and will venture to the lightweight division!
Davis, one of the more gifted offensive fighters in boxing, will leave the junior lightweight division as a two-time champion (IBF & WBA) but only having three defenses between the two titles against limited opposition.
In 2017, he picked up the IBF title after stopping then champion Jose Pedraza in seven rounds. He made one defense against the unknown Liam Walsh before being stripped for missing weight against Francisco Fonseca.
The following year after former WBA champion Jezreel Corrales would be stripped, Davis superseded him as the new title holder in stopping former featherweight champion Jesus Cuellar in three rounds. He since made two defenses against natural featherweight Hugo Ruiz and unknown mandatory Ricardo Nunez.
This is highly disappointing considering his much publicized feud with bitter rival and IBF champion Tevin Farmer, who has been calling for a fight with Davis since mid 2017! Furthermore, a fight with the division’s newest entry Leo Santa Cruz had been talked about but now appears to be off the table.
However, before everyone starts typing “he’s ducking” on social media, understand first that Davis has been having weight issues at junior lightweight for over a year!
At lightweight, Davis enters a division with the likes of Vasiliy Lomachenko, Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez and Richard Commey among others.
He is now in prime position for a shot at Vasiliy Lomachenko, as he’s ranked number one by the WBA. Lomachenko is currently the unified champion at the weight, holding the WBA, WBC and WBO.
Interestingly enough, the guy ranked at number two is Yuriokis Gamboa. This could set up a showdown between Davis and Gamboa for the “regular” lightweight title. Coincidentally (or not), this is a match-up that’s been talked about and could be a real possibility.
3kingsboxing.com will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.
By: Jerrell Fletcher
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